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yellow · warm

#cdbc94

a light, soft yellow · warm · closest name: Tan

Token name suggestion: Morning Citron

RGB
205, 188, 148
HSL
42°, 36%, 69%
CMYK
0, 8, 28, 20
Luminance
0.5108

#cdbc94 is a light soft yellow, 42° on the wheel and 10/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (11.22:1). As text it scores 1.87:1 on white — use #887340 instead. Nearest name is Tan, nearest Tailwind family is yellow.

hsl(42 36% 69%)rgb(205 188 148)Base step 400AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #cdbc94 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#cdbc94
Hue
42°
yellow
Saturation
36%
soft
Lightness
69%
light
Brightness
80%
HSV value
Perceived
74%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5108
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
10/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
11.22:1
Closest name
Tan
ΔE2000 5.1
Chroma
22.5
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.799
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
yellow
500 · ΔE 17.3
Web-safe
#CCCC99
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue42° of 360°
Saturation36%
Lightness69%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #cdbc94.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool10% cool

Reads warm. Warm and cool siblings keep the same lightness, so you can swap one in without redoing your contrast maths.

Luminance by channel
Red25%
Green70%
Blue4%

Green carries most of what the eye calls brightness — that is why WCAG weights it 0.7152.

Every format

HEX#cdbc94
HEX (8-digit)#cdbc94ff
RGBrgb(205, 188, 148)
RGBArgba(205, 188, 148, 1)
HSLhsl(42, 36%, 69%)
HSV / HSBhsv(42, 28%, 80%)
HWBhwb(42 58% 20%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 8%, 28%, 20%)
LABlab(76.7 -0.1 22.5)
LCHlch(76.7 22.5 90.3)
OKLCHoklch(0.799 0.057 87.7)
XYZ (D65)xyz(48.51, 51.08, 35.32)
Decimal13483156
Display P3color(display-p3 0.804 0.737 0.580)
Web-safe#CCCC99

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #cdbc94;
background-color: #cdbc94;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #cdbc94;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#cdbc94] bg-[#cdbc94]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #cdbc94;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.804, green: 0.737, blue: 0.580)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.804, green: 0.737, blue: 0.580, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#CDBC94</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFCDBC94)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFCDBC94)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(148, 188, 205)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(205, 188, 148)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(205, 188, 148)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 205, 188, 148)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.8039f, 0.7373f, 0.5804f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{205,188,148}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #cdbc94 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #cdbc94 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#574929, #ECE5D5);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #cdbc94 h s calc(l - 7));

Design tokens

The same ramp in the four formats a team actually needs. Paste one and the whole palette lands with it.

css custom propertiesclick to select
:root {
  --brand-50: #FAF8F5;
  --brand-100: #F4F1EB;
  --brand-200: #E8E2D3;
  --brand-300: #DBCFB3;
  --brand-400: #cdbc94;
  --brand-500: #B89F66;
  --brand-600: #A78C4E;
  --brand-700: #8B7541;
  --brand-800: #6F5E34;
  --brand-900: #524529;
  --brand-950: #332B19;
  --brand: #cdbc94;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF8F5;
  --brand-border: #E5DCC7;
  --brand-hover: #C2AD7C;
  --brand-pressed: #B69D63;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #241F14;
    --brand-ink: #ECE5D5;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FAF8F5',
        100: '#F4F1EB',
        200: '#E8E2D3',
        300: '#DBCFB3',
        400: '#cdbc94',
        500: '#B89F66',
        600: '#A78C4E',
        700: '#8B7541',
        800: '#6F5E34',
        900: '#524529',
        950: '#332B19',
        DEFAULT: '#cdbc94',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FAF8F5,
  '100': #F4F1EB,
  '200': #E8E2D3,
  '300': #DBCFB3,
  '400': #cdbc94,
  '500': #B89F66,
  '600': #A78C4E,
  '700': #8B7541,
  '800': #6F5E34,
  '900': #524529,
  '950': #332B19,
);
$brand-base: #cdbc94;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FAF8F5", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F4F1EB", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#E8E2D3", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#DBCFB3", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#cdbc94", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#B89F66", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#A78C4E", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#8B7541", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#6F5E34", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#524529", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#332B19", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$value": "#000000", "$type": "color" }
  }
}

Best text color

Only one of black and white can be right. This is the one, with the number that proves it.

Readable at a glance#000000 on #cdbc94 · 11.22:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.87:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 11.22:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #cdbc94 as text scores 1.87:1 on white and 11.22:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #574929 at 4.69:1.

Make it accessible

A contrast checker tells you that you failed. This tells you what to ship instead — same hue, same saturation, lightness moved only as far as WCAG demands.

The quick fox
#887340 · 4.59:1
AA on white−30% L
#887340
The quick fox
#65552F · 7.26:1
AAA on white−40% L
#65552F
The quick fox
#cdbc94 · 11.22:1
AA on blackalready passes
#cdbc94
The quick fox
#cdbc94 · 11.22:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#cdbc94

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #AB9050 is enough for headings on white. Non-text elements such as icons, chart strokes and focus rings also sit at 3:1 under WCAG 2.2 (1.4.11).

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#cdbc94 on white: 1.87:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#cdbc94 on black: 11.22:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #cdbc94 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #cdbc94.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.87:1AaAa
Slate 501.79:1AaAa
Slate 1001.71:1AaAa
Slate 2001.52:1AaAa
Slate 3001.26:1AaAa
Slate 4001.37:1AaAa
Slate 5002.54:1AaAa
Slate 6004.05:1AaAa
Slate 7005.53:1AaAa
Slate 8007.81:1AaAa
Slate 9009.54:1AaAa
Black11.22:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #C6BB91
deuteranopia · #CABF95
tritanopia · #D6B5B1

Roughly one man in twelve has some form of colour vision deficiency. If any of the three panels above is hard to tell apart from a neighbouring colour in your palette, add a shape, an icon or a label so the meaning does not rest on hue alone.

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #cdbc94 is pinned to step 400; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#FAF8F5
#F4F1EB
#E8E2D3
#DBCFB3
#cdbc94
#B89F66
#A78C4E
#8B7541
#6F5E34
#524529
#332B19
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #FAF8F5Darkest = 950 · #332B19Text step on white = 800
Perceptual ramp — OKLCH

The same eleven steps expressed in OKLCH, where equal lightness numbers actually look equally spaced. HSL ramps go muddy in the yellows and washed out in the blues; this one does not. Modern browsers render it natively — the hex ramp above is the fallback.

50100200300400500600700800900950
oklch tokensclick to select
:root {
  --brand-50: oklch(0.97 0.014 87.7);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.023 87.7);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.034 87.7);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.044 87.7);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.052 87.7);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.057 87.7);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.057 87.7);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.054 87.7);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.048 87.7);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.040 87.7);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.031 87.7);
}

Colors that work with #cdbc94

Not a palette — a role sheet. Each swatch answers one question you will hit while building the component.

Text on it#000000
Black wins here
Surface#FAF8F5
Tinted page background
Border#E5DCC7
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B834B
Captions on the surface
Accent#3D6A8F
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#574929
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F7F4EE
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241F14
Dark-mode background
Hover#C2AD7C
One step down in lightness
Pressed#B69D63
Two steps down
Disabled#EDEBE4
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#DAC79B
Offset from the fill so it reads
Light mode
Everything in its place

Surface, border, heading and body all derive from this one hue, so the screen stays coherent without a second palette.

Primary actionSecondaryBadge
Dark mode
Same hue, inverted

Lightness flips, hue holds. The accent stays the anchor in both themes.

Primary actionSecondaryAccent

In real components

The same eight roles, wired into the interface patterns you will actually build with them. Every state below is a computed value, not a mock-up.

Buttons and states
Save changesHoverPressedDisabled
OutlineSubtleLinkFocused
Form field
you@company.com

Focus ring uses the light variant so the field still reads as one shape.

Send me product updates
Notice
Your export is ready

The file stays available for seven days. Download it before it expires.

NewBetaDraft
Data
Storage used68%
Acme LtdActive
NorthwindTrial
GlobexActive

How to use #cdbc94

Derived from its contrast, chroma and lightness — not from taste.

Works well for
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Charts, tags and secondary surfaces
  • Card and section backgrounds
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Text of any size on white — fails WCAG AA
  • White text placed on it
  • Thin strokes and 1px borders — they disappear on light UI
  • Pairing with a same-lightness hue — edges vibrate
Minimum size as text on white
Not as text
Safe as a fill behind white type
No — use #574929
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #AB9050

Meaning and mood

What a colour in this family tends to signal, and how this particular chroma and lightness change the reading.

optimisticalertcheap-and-cheerfulvisible

The most visible hue at low light levels, which is why it owns warnings, hazard tape and value retail.

The muted chroma softens the association — it reads considered rather than loud, which suits long-form and data-heavy screens. The lightness keeps it airy and approachable.

Worth knowing

Almost never passes contrast against white. Treat it as a surface or a marker, not as text.

Reads as
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyMedium
  • Weight31/100
  • TemperatureWarm
  • ApproachabilityHigh

Colour associations are cultural and vary by market. Treat these as a starting point for a conversation with your audience, not a finding about them.

Similar colors

One move away from this hex in each direction. Every swatch is its own page.

Color relationships

The wheel positions with their names attached, so you can grab the one you actually need.

Complementary#94A5CD
Analogous left#CD9F94
Analogous right#C1CD94
Split-complement 1#94C1CD
Split-complement 2#9F94CD
Triadic 1#94CDBC
Triadic 2#BC94CD
Tetradic#94CD9F
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°42°

#cdbc94 sits at 42°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red80.4%
Green73.7%
Blue58.0%
R · 0–255
205
0xcd
G · 0–255
188
0xbc
B · 0–255
148
0x94

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta8.3%
Yellow27.8%
Key (black)19.6%

Total ink coverage is 56%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#cdbc94 text on a black background

contrast 11.22:1

Card sample

#cdbc94 text on a white background

contrast 1.87:1

Card sample

#cdbc94 on grey

1.71:1

#cdbc94 on its own surface

1.77:1

#cdbc94 on its dark surface

8.76:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #cdbc94;
Background color
Panel with #cdbc94 background
background-color: #cdbc94;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #cdbc94;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(205, 188, 148, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(205, 188, 148, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #cdbc94;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #cdbc94, #B8CD94);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cdbc94, #AACD94);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #cdbc94;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #cdbc94;
caret-color: #cdbc94;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #cdbc94;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F7F4EE;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #cdbc94;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#cdbc94 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #cdbc94 over white; the bottom row is the same alpha over a checkerboard, so you can see what survives on a photo or a video.

Bottom row of hexes is the flattened result over white — use those when a design tool refuses transparency, or when you need a solid fallback.

alpha in every syntaxclick to select
rgba(205, 188, 148, 0.5)
rgb(205 188 148 / 50%)
#cdbc9480
hsl(42 36% 69% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #cdbc94 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#cdbc941a#FAF8F4
20%#cdbc9433#F5F2EA
40%#cdbc9466#EBE4D4
60%#cdbc9499#E1D7BF
80%#cdbc94cc#D7C9A9

Gradients from #cdbc94

Six recipes, each built from this hex and shown with the exact CSS that produced it.

Elevation
Same hue, three lightnesses — safe anywhere
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #E0D6BE, #cdbc94 45%, #574929);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #cdbc94, #A4C37F);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cdbc94, #94A5CD);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #EAE3D3 0%, #cdbc94 45%, #574929 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #FAF8F5, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #DDBBB7 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #CAD7A9 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #574929 0%, transparent 65%), #cdbc94;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #cdbc94

Shades — darker

Tints — lighter

Tones — desaturated

Color harmonies

Nearest named colors

Ranked with CIEDE2000 across all 139 CSS keywords. Under ΔE 2 the eye stops telling them apart; over ΔE 10 they are plainly different colors.

#cdbc94 in the real world

Where a color in this family tends to land, and the interface roles it is usually asked to play.

Industries
RetailLeisureEnergyWarning systems
Common UI roles
SurfacesBadgesHighlightsEmpty states
Print note

Converts to four-color process without much drama. Proof it anyway.

On screens

Holds up across typical panel gamma. Still worth checking on an uncalibrated laptop, where mid-tones shift most.

In dark mode

Usable as-is on a dark surface at 11.22:1.

Explore nearby colors

Small, deliberate steps away from this hex — useful when you are hunting for the version of a colour that finally feels right.

#cdbc94, answered

What color is #cdbc94?

#cdbc94 is a light soft yellow, closest to Tan (ΔE2000 5.1). It sits at 42° on the hue wheel with 36% saturation and 69% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #cdbc94?

rgb(205, 188, 148) — 205 red, 188 green and 148 blue out of 255, or 80.4% / 73.7% / 58% by channel.

What is #cdbc94 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(42, 36%, 69%) and hsv(42, 28%, 80%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #cdbc94 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5108 and perceived brightness is 74%, so black text on it reaches 11.22:1.

Should I use black or white text on #cdbc94?

Black. It scores 11.22:1 against #cdbc94, versus 1.87:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #cdbc94 accessible on a white background?

#cdbc94 on white scores 1.87:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #887340 to reach 4.5:1, or #65552F for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #cdbc94?

#94A5CD sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #94C1CD and #9F94CD, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #cdbc94?

For interface work: #FAF8F5 as the surface, #E5DCC7 for borders, #9B834B for secondary text, #3D6A8F as an accent and #574929 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #CD9F94 and #C1CD94 stays calm, while #94A5CD is the loudest partner.

What is #cdbc94 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 8%, 28%, 20%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #cdbc94 warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 10 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #CDAF94; nudged cooler, #CACF92.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #cdbc94?

The yellow family — its 500 step is #eab308, ΔE2000 17.3 away. That is a visible difference, so define #cdbc94 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #cdbc94 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#cdbc94] or text-[#cdbc94], or register the whole ramp under theme.extend.colors.brand so you get bg-brand-500 and friends. The generated 50–950 scale on this page is ready to paste into your config.

What is #cdbc94 with 50% opacity?

rgba(205, 188, 148, 0.5), or #cdbc9480 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #E6DECA; over black, #675E4A.

Is #cdbc94 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCC99, ΔE2000 7.7 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #cdbc94 mean?

As a yellow, it reads optimistic, alert, cheap-and-cheerful. The most visible hue at low light levels, which is why it owns warnings, hazard tape and value retail. At this moderate chroma the association is present but not shouted.

What gradient works with #cdbc94?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #E0D6BE, #cdbc94 45%, #574929). For more colour, a short hue run to #A4C37F keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #cdbc94 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #cdbc94 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.